NOTE:
This Web page is not intended for publicity o commercial purposes
and it is not an official page of the XXII Congreso SLAP
The links to other pages found here are for general information
of our visitors

INVITATION

In the following pages you
will find images of surgical pathology and cytology cases. Each
case includes one or two pathology images accompanied by a brief
clinical history and the magnification of the images. Please,
examine all the cases from the list below and when you get to the
last case send by e-mail all of your answers with the list of
cases to submit@telepathology.comand using a single message. In your message
include your name, specialty, sub-specialty, name of the
institution where you work, and your e-mail address. All this
information will be kept confidential and will not be used for
public distribution. It is necessary that you send the answers
for all cases. In case(s) that you do not have the answer include
the phrase "Not Available"

CASES
CONTRIBUTED(Not included
in the present study): We also invite you
to send us interesting pathology cases to be published in these
pages. You can send your images as attached JPG files to submit@telepathology.com

OBJECTIVE

This is a
study on static telepathology in which histopathology images
selected by a pathologist are digitized and then sent to
consultant pathologist(s) through the Internet. In contrast,
dynamic telepathology uses live images in which the histological
specimens are moved through a telerobotic mechanism installed in
the microscope or through a telepathology assistant who receive
verbal commands. Static telepathology is of low cost, at reach of
populations with limited financial resources and the principal
objective of this study.

The answers
from the participants will be used for a statistical study in
telepathology to determine the degree of precision in the
diagnosis of histological images by a heterogeneous and voluntary
population of pathologists with different sub-specialties and
with different experiences in the use of the Internet. This
information will be used as part of a presentation on "Telepathology"
during the Round Table in Informatics and
Anatomic Pathology
to be held this coming Friday the 29th of October during the XXII Congress of the Latin American
Society of Pathology in Lima, Peru. The results will be
published later through e-mail keeping confidential the identity
of the participants.

TECHNICAL
INFORMATION ABOUT THE IMAGES

The images
shown here have been taken with an Olympus BX-50 microscope with
planachromatic lenses, using a reflex photographic camera Nikon FA ($200 US) with film Kodak Ektachrome 64 ASA Professional 135x24
($10 US including E-6 process). The slides have been scanned and
digitized with a Hewlett-Packard Photo Scanner
PhotoSmart ($500)
at a resolution of 1024x768 pixels. The images have been
optimized in contrast, brightness and sharpness and then
compressed and archived in JPEG format at an average resolution
of 500x375 pixels using Adobe ImageReady version 1.0 ($100). All this
process has taken an average of 3 hours for 5 cases, including
the E-6 process for developing the film. In addition to the cost
of the microscope and the computer used, the additional total
cost of the equipment and software used has been of approximately
$800 US. This is in contrast to images obtained with high
definition digital cameras which actual cost is between $5,000
and $ 10,000 US. The only important advantage using a digital
camera has been the saving of approximately 2 hours, that is the
time needed to develop the film with the E-6 process. The scanner
used here is also capable to scan and digitize at high resolution
histological glass slides including an image of the whole
specimen and providing images similar to those obtained with 2x
objective lenses (see examples). Glass slides were mounted in a
conventional 35 mm slide mount as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.

HOW TO SEE
THE IMAGES

Be sure that
your monitor is configured with a color palette of 16, 24 o 32
bits (no 256 colors) and with a resolution of at least 800x600
pixels o more (1024x768). For this go to "start" "control
panel" "display" and "settings". If you
use a browser such as "Internet Explorer - version 5" for Internet access to the Web,
configure it to see in "Full Screen" and obtain a
better view of the screen and a full vision of the images.

RELEASE OF
LIABILITY

In case you consider it necessary, you may
include with your answers the following text: "This
is a telepathology trial done for academic and research purposes
only. Any opinion, diagnosis or evaluation expressed here is
solely for statistical analysis and must not be considered as a
medical opinion of a disease of any patient or for the need of
treatment or referral of any kind"

CASES

For a
complete study you have to examine all the cases in the following
list and when you get to the last one click to go to the
following page to find instructions on how to submit your
messages to submit@telepathology.com. Please, include your name, specialty, sub-specialty,
institution where you work and your e-mail address. All this
information will be kept confidential and not used for
distribution.